al-Kāżimiyyah (Arabic: الكاظمية al-Kāżimiyyah; alternatively, Arabic: الكاظمين al-Kāżimayn), is a town located in what is now a northern neighbourhood of Baghdad, Iraq about five kilometres from the city center. Al-Kāżimiyyah is one of nine administrative districts in Baghdad.
Al-Kāżimayn is regarded as a holy city in Shī‘ah Islām. It received its name (lit. "the Two Kāżims" or "the Two who swallow their anger"), for the two Shī‘ah Imāms buried there: Mūsā al-Kādhim and his grandson and successor Shī‘ah Imām Muhammad at-Taqī. A shrine was first built over their tombs, and subsequently the al-Kadhimiya Mosque.
The area that now constitutes al-Kāżimiyyah was originally the location of a graveyard reserved for members of the Quraish tribe. This land was set aside for this purpose by the Abbasid caliph, Harun al-Rashid.
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In its early history, the town was an important center of Shia learning, perhaps the main center, but over time the town declined, and other cities rose to prominence. The location of the city has lent it to numerous plunders, that have resulted in damage to its shrines at different times in history. Among the most damage ever experienced by the town was after the Mongol sack of Baghdad where the shrine of the Shia Imams was burnt down. The area was also an important center of resistance against the British after World War I.
During the Baghdad Security Plan of 2007, there were rumours that U.S. forces built walls around the Imam al-Kadhim mosque. According to Iraqslogger.com, the protests that resulted were due to an agreement between Iraqi security officials and Mahdi Army that US forces would not come within 1,000 meters of the shrine.[1]
Camp Justice (also known as "Camp Al-Adala") is a joint Iraqi-American military base.[2] The location was renamed from "Camp Banzai" in mid-September 2004 as part of an effort to give Army facilities around Baghdad friendlier names.[3] Camp Justice was the location of the 2006 execution of Saddam Hussein; the 2007 hanging of Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, Awad Hamed al-Bandar, and Taha Yassin Ramadan; and the 2010 hanging of Saddam's cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid, a.k.a. Chemical Ali.
The former president of Iraq, Saddam Hussein was executed at approximately 03:00 UTC on December 30, 2006. Two weeks later on January 15, 2007, Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, former head of the Iraqi Intelligence Service, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, former head of the Iraqi Revolutionary Court, were also executed by hanging at this site.[4]
Saddam's former deputy and former vice-president, Taha Yassin Ramadan (who was originally sentenced to life in prison on November 5, 2006, but had it changed to a death sentence three months and a week later), was likewise hung here on March 20, 2007, two months and five days after Barzan's and al-Bandar's execution. Likewise Saddam's cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid (Chemical Ali) was hanged on January 25, 2010 (three years and about a month after his cousin's execution), after receiving four death sentences.[4]
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